Andrea James is a transgender advocate, writer, film producer and director based in Los Angeles. She appeared in the HBO documentary Middle Sexes, is a consulting producer on the series Transcendent and consults on productions featuring transgender characters such as Transamerica. Andrea’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic and book she co-edited, Letters For My Sisters.

Andrea says “Deeply held beliefs and subtle biases often hinder this ethical imperative. Overcoming these will lead to a healthier society where everyone is freed from oppressive gendered expectations”

Peter Hyndal has been working with transgender communities since the 1990s. This work has included the development of award winning community projects as well as direct involvement in law reform work such as the Australian Passport Policy and the ACT Change of Sex Provisions. Peter is the Director of Transformative Solutions, an organisation providing gender related policy advice and training.

Peter says “Society’s obsession with categorising people by gender unnecessarily limits all of our lives. Policing trans identities is damaging and prevents us from exploring these structures in more useful and complex ways”

The panellists who will engage in this debate from a radical feminist and faith based perspective are

Bronwyn Winter is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney specialising in gender, sexual orientation, race, human rights and feminism. Her books include Hijab and the Republic: Uncovering the French Headscarf Debate and September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives. The focus of her current work is LGBTI human rights and asylum rights, and a co-edited an anthology on the state and gay marriage.

Bronwyn says “Gender isn’t about personal identity, it’s social and political. It’s not about how you feel; it’s about how the two-caste system of gender serves the established order”

John Haldane is a Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at Scotland’s University of St Andrews. He is a regular contributor in BBC programming, The Times and The Daily Telegraph (UK). John has authored and edited many books including An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Religion, Faithful Reason: Essays Catholic and Philosophical and Atheism and Theism.

John says “What is reasonable to expect or demand in a liberal society? Diversity, comprising different cultures, traditions and value systems, restricts what social stance can be expected, let alone required”

During consultation with the trans community prior to establishing this debate, it became obvious that there are a range of views within the trans community around the relative merits of publicly discussing or debating transphobia.

The Carmen Rupe Memorial Trust has established a Facebook forum with the intention of providing a safe space for the trans and gender diverse community to discuss varying perspectives, in the hope of reaching far greater mutual understanding of each other’s point of view.